Menthol Crystal Cold Process Soap

These cold process soaps are scented with menthol crystals. They’re a natural product that can be used in a variety of projects including soap, scrubs, balms, and more. You only need a few crystals to add a minty scent and a cooling sensation on the skin.

Bramble Berry menthol crystals are created with a cold extraction method. Essentially, oil is extracted from mint leaves and then frozen. The resulting crystals can be melted with oil or alcohol and added to recipes at 0.5-2%.

This recipe uses 1% menthol crystals. It’s enough to give the bars a very light scent and a cooling sensation on sensitive areas of skin. You can increase or decrease the amount depending on your personal preference.

We left these bars uncolored and added poppy seeds for exfoliation. The 10% water discount helps the soap release from the mold faster. A discount does cause acceleration, but that works well for this simple design.

Find the supplies you need for this project below

If you’ve never made cold process soap before, stop here. We highly recommend checking out our FREE four part SoapQueen.tv series on cold process soapmaking, especially the episode on lye safety. And if you’d rather do some reading, Bramble Berry carries a wide range of books on the topic, including Pure Soapmaking.

SAFETY FIRST: Suit up for safe handling practices. That means goggles, gloves, and long sleeves. Make sure kids, pets, other distractions, and tripping hazards are out of the house or don’t have access to your soaping space. Always soap in a well-ventilated area.

ONE: Slowly and carefully add 2.3 ounces of lye to 4.8 ounces of distilled water. Gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved. Set it aside to cool. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye water. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add 1 teaspoon sodium lactate.

TWO: Fully melt the entire bag of Lots of Lather until it’s completely clear. Shake the bag to mix all the oils. Measure 16 ounces of the Quick Mix into a heat-safe bowl. Add 0.2 ounces of menthol crystals. Stir the oils to help the menthol crystals melt – this may take a few minutes. Continue stirring until you no longer see any crystals.NOTE: If the crystals aren’t dissolving, the oil may not be hot enough. They melt around 120° F and hotter. Place the bowl in the microwave and heat using 20 second bursts and continue to stir.

THREE: Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130° F or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend the mixture to a thin to medium trace.

FOUR: Add 1 teaspoon of poppy seeds and use a whisk or spatula to fully mix them in.

FIVE: Place the mold on a cutting board for easy pickup. Pour the soap into each cavity. If the soap starts to get thick, use a whisk to stir and loosen up the batter. Tap the mold on the counter to get rid of bubbles. If you’d like, use a large spoon to smooth the top.

SIX: Allow the soap to harden in the mold for 1-3 days (depending on if you used sodium lactate or not). Unmold each soap and allow the soaps to cure for 4-6 weeks before use. Enjoy.

SAFETY FIRST: Suit up for safe handling practices. That means goggles, gloves, and long sleeves. Make sure kids, pets, other distractions, and tripping hazards are out of the house or don’t have access to your soaping space. Always soap in a well-ventilated area.

Slowly and carefully add 2.3 ounces of lye to 4.8 ounces of distilled water. Gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved. Set it aside to cool. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye water. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add 1 teaspoon sodium lactate.

Fully melt the entire bag of Lots of Lather until it’s completely clear. Shake the bag to mix all the oils. Measure 16 ounces of the Quick Mix into a heat-safe bowl. Add 0.2 ounces of menthol crystals. Stir the oils to help the menthol crystals melt – this may take a few minutes. Continue stirring until you no longer see any crystals. NOTE: If the crystals aren’t dissolving, the oil may not be hot enough. They melt around 120° F and hotter. Place the bowl in the microwave and heat using 20 second bursts and continue to stir.

Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130° F or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend the mixture to a thin to medium trace.

Add 1 teaspoon of poppy seeds and use a whisk or spatula to fully mix them in.

Place the mold on a cutting board for easy pickup. Pour the soap into each cavity. If the soap starts to get thick, use a whisk to stir and loosen up the batter. Tap the mold on the counter to get rid of bubbles. If you’d like, use a large spoon to smooth the top.

Allow the soap to harden in the mold for 1-3 days (depending on if you used sodium lactate or not). Unmold each soap and allow the soaps to cure for 4-6 weeks before use. Enjoy.

The menthol crystals already provide a pretty strong mint smell. If you are wanting to scent the soap I would recommend something that pairs well with that and a small test batch to make sure you like the results.

Menthol seems like such a great idea for soap, I’m surprised I don’t see it in more recipes. I just made a batch of this, and I added some tea tree EO to give it a scent boost. I’m excited to see how these turn out! Thanks for the great tutorial.

Does the Crystals have the same cooling sensation as Peppermint EO? I’m looking for just a little cooling sensation not like Peppermint EO which burns somewhat and makes me feel super cold.. Even in a hot bath! Just want just a little hint of it without what Peppermint EO does. Thank you!

Not this exact recipe since melt and pour cannot accept a lot of additional oils. You would melt the Menthol Crystals the same way by adding it into oil, then you would add the oil mixture to melt and pour at 1 teaspoon per pound for SFIC or 0.5% for Stephenson.

I will have to try these, this is exactly how I do my peppermint rosemary soap, just natural white color and poppyseeds. I love using peppermint soap but sure, you need to keep the amount in check. I’m curious about finding a scale that will measure in increments of .1, any recommendations? The one I have only measures in increments of .5 and in looking around, I can’t really tell from the descriptions of the measuring increments.

Yes, you can definitely make this recipe in a loaf mold if you’d like. This recipe only makes about 1.5lbs of soap though, so you may need to adjust the size if you want it to fill your mold completely.

I’ve been patiently waiting to see how you used this product and as usual, you did not disappoint! I’m wondering about using them now because the soap won’t be ready until mid November and I live in West Virginia. Do you know how well they store? Should I be patient and wait until Spring? I don’t want a cooling soap in the middle of a WV winter. Thanks for everything!

I think a minty cooling soap sounds nice even in the winter if you don’t want to wait! Though the Menthol Crystals should definitely last until the spring. They can melt with the addition of heat so just try to keep them in a cool, dry place that is out of direct sunlight.

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